Aha! Yes, Shaedy Hoe, I am terrified of writing myself into a corner. TBH I struggle to stay on a linear path, it's like my brain loves circles when the world demands a straight line, but I love writing. I'm one of those 'if I can't find it, I'll write it' types because daydreaming just isn't the same!

If you haven't noticed already, Lia is a little OP. I looooooooove OP characters, but it's no fun if there's no challenge. The beauty of OP characters, though, is that they're still characters. Just because they cannot be beaten physically, doesn't mean they can't come across obstacles. Whether those obstacles are emotional, moral, law, romance, money etc. There are many aspects to the world around them!

As for pairings, I genuinely don't know who's gonna end up with who yet. I'm waiting to see how everything plays out. I'm not adverse to ideas, but I like seeing where the chips fall, you know? Sometimes when writing, it's like, sometimes conversations have to be forced while others just flow. I want flowy aha!

Now, this chapter was a little tricky because vicki but I think I swung it in my favour. I will say now, obviously, shit is happening a hell of a lot faster here than it is in the show. There shall be no waiting til after Halloween. That's a legit month away at this point. Lexi's gonna have to wait to. Now! On with the show! Reviews are welcome! Advice and praise preferred! Any hate and I'll find a way to block you from my story lolololol Or just sic Shaedy Hoe on you aha! I'll take the slaughtering of haters over a sacrificial goat, please and thanks! Ahahaha!

Chapter 14

"Zach?"

Stefan walked slowly into the house that night; the front door had been left ajar and no lights were on. He raced down to the basement, scared and dismayed at the sight of the open cell door. His next stop was Zach's room, surprised to see all of his personal belongings missing. Stefan was surprised, but couldn't blame the mortal Salvatore; he would have left long ago if he'd had two vampire uncles that had a tendency to show up whenever they pleased.

Stefan marched into his room, grabbing the stake he had stashed with a grim mien. He knew Damon would be starving, he'd kill anyone who got in his way right now.

Wasting no time, he reefed the front door open only to come to a grinding halt. A frantic Elena was at the door, staring at him like she'd never seen him before.

Before he could say anything, though, she asked a question he'd hoped to never hear from her.

"What are you?"

His entire being felt like it had been defeated. Zach had told him that a normal life was out of reach for him, but he'd hoped. More than hoped; he's prayed. But it just wasn't meant to be.

While Elena confronted Stefan with her supernatural findings, Jeremy and Caroline were at the Athánatos residence. Caroline had told everyone about Bonnie's episode, Lia told them about Damon and Tina's valiant escape home after she released the starved vampire and Jeremy told them what he'd heard of Stelena's conversation.

"Well, we can officially say the Golden Gilbert knows now," Enzo sighed as he watched Elena run home and Stefan blur inside after her though the living room window. "She really didn't think it through, did she? Confronting a vampire when she's decided she'd be terrified of them."

Caroline scoffed. "Of course, honestly, I'm not surprised. She's used to being the centre of everything. The fact that Stefan had a world that didn't even include her made her determined to slip into it. Now that she knows, she's going to either have to realise that the world is bigger than her, or she's going to have to make it about her."

Lia sighed. "Well, setting Miss Gilbert aside, we'll be hearing from Mr Salvatore Senior soon. He won't stay quiet 'til the next full moon."

Enzo growled, dropping into an armchair and rolling his eyes as he sipped his drink of choice. "Of course not. He'll be aiming to get on your good side to make sure that his plans go off without a hitch. No; he'll be trying to win you over or kill you now that he's realised you have him in your sights and his un-life's ambition in the palm of your hand. No matter how powerful he thought you were, he left you alone because you weren't a threat before. Now? Well," Enzo finished with a shrug.

"You know, all this supernatural drama is ruining me for my human side," Caroline sighed, dropping her cheek onto her palm from where she sat on the lounge. "I can't listen to the usual teen angst when it comes to boys or grades without wanting to roll my eyes at how boring it all seems."

Jeremy chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Vicki asked me to come with her to a party at the cemetery tonight but I just couldn't. I know I said I'd like to stay friends, but getting drunk with a bunch of druggies just… seems so…"

"Pathetic?" Caroline suggested. "Small in the grand scheme of things?"

"Yeah," Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Let's stick with 'small.'"

Well," Lia clapped her hands, jumping to her feet. "We can try to follow the lead that Slater gave us in the meantime for something to do!"

"You mean the witch that traded your tears for the rings?" Care asked, receiving a confirming nod from Enzo as he pulled out his phone.

"Slater sent this from the security footage of the café you met her at. He said her name is Greta Martin. She's apparently fallen off the grid. Her father and brother are searching for her."

"Huh, I suppose if she wanted to run away from a family of magic practitioner's, my tears would have been a blessing," Lia mused as she looked at the picture captured from the CCTV. "That's definitely her."

"Doesn't that kind of mean 'case solved?'" Caroline questioned with a raised eyebrow. "She gained the ability to hide from magic and she ran away. Pretty cut-and-dry if you ask me."

"Yeah, I don't think there's any secret treasure trove behind that one," Jeremy sighed, leaning back against the armchair he was sat in. "I suppose we're just gonna have to keep things to the human world for the next couple of days."

"Ugh," Caroline groaned. "Boring."

"Not necessarily," Lia cocked her head to the side as she listened to the phone call that was taking place on the front lawn of the Gilbert's. "Damon is demanding his ring and threatening Elena if it doesn't happen soon."

Enzo laughed mockingly. "Of course. He won't take it out on Stefan, no, he'll just hurt all those around him." He downed the rest of his drink before setting it heavily on the table and pushed himself to his feet, pacing like a caged animal. "The only one he will ever truly care about is Stefan. His younger brother was the only one he thought about while we were prisoners of Augustine. He waited for Stefan to come, to realise that he was missing, had been missing, but the longer he was held captive, the more resentful of his brother he became. I suppose that all changed when he regained his freedom," Enzo spat bitterly.

"You two should stay here tonight, borrow some of our clothes," Lia all but demanded, looking at the humans. "Damon has been invited into your house and I don't want you out there alone," Lia sent pointed looks at Jeremy and Caroline respectively. "You know where the guest rooms are and spare toiletries are under the sinks in all the bathrooms."

In a flash, Lia was standing in front of the pair holding out towels and a set of sleepwear. The mortals nodded with a smile, grabbing their piles and heading up the stairs, knowing the supernatural siblings needed to have a heart-to-heart.

Once the teens were up and away from the living room, Lia grabbed her still-pacing vampire's hand and dragged him to his favourite armchair, sitting him down before curling up on his lap. Enzo released a shuddering sigh as he clung to Lia like a limpet.

"I don't want to hate him," Enzo admitted in the softest of whispers, as if confessing the most blasphemous of sins. "He was all I had for 5 years, even thoughts of him kept me sane for the 60 after. He and Maggie were all I had for the longest time. I don't want to lose the only person I have left that can truly understand what it was like, that was there for me, even if not 'til the end."

"You don't have to," Lia whispered back, placing the gentlest of kisses on the depressed and confused immortal's temple. "Get your payback if you wish, but no one ever said you have to so anything you don't want to do. You could love him and forgive him right this minute and I would welcome him with open arms and vivid threats about repeat betrayals."

Enzo chuckled wetly, refusing to let his tears fall as he tightened his grip.

"Trust me, angel, I definitely want revenge," Enzo grinned fiendishly. "But I don't want him dead, or out of my life. I want him to beg for forgiveness and, once I'm satisfied, I want to forgive him."

"I'll follow your lead," Lia replied, snuggling into her brother. "Love you, Loren."

"No more than I love you, my precious guardian angel."

*TVDM*

Jeremy woke the next morning to his phone ringing. He groaned and ignored it, rolling over and snuggling into the softest pillow he'd ever had the pleasure of resting his head on. He almost cried when the persistent caller tried again.

Reaching blindly, he snatched his phone up and answered.

"He-"

"Oh my God, Jeremy! Where are you? I've been calling all morning, worried sick! Are you OK? There was an attack at the cemetery last night and-"

"What?" Jeremy sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning widely. "What attack? I'm at Lia's. What made you think I would be at th-" Jeremy blinked as finally comprehended the conversation. "You thought I was hanging with the stoners?"

"Well," Elena started in her usual judgy way. "Vicki Donovan was there and I know you think you're in love-"

"God, Elena, just stop," Jeremy groaned, regrettably standing from the bed and making his way to the bathroom. "I'm not in love with Vicki. She was the only person who offered me any kind of support while I was grieving for mum and dad."

Elena fell silent. Jeremy decided to continue, rolling his eyes at the pity party she was no doubt throwing herself right now.

"Is Vicki OK?"

"Oh, Jer," Elena sighed forlornly. "Vicki's missing."

Jeremy blinked in surprise, his stride faltering.

"Missing?" Jeremy parroted, raising an eyebrow at Enzo, who had just appeared in front of him. He mouthed 'Damon' and jerked his head over his shoulder before turning and walking away. Jeremy took the request and followed along.

Jeremy cut off whatever Elena was saying when he caught sight of the girls already seated in the living room. "Listen, Elena, I gotta go," he hung up without waiting for a response. "So, Damon?"

"I just got a call from Liz," Enzo started, already reaching for his drink of choice. "Bodies, burned to hide their cause of death, no shell casings and as far as she can see, no blood splatters littering the ground."

"It happened at night," Lia continued. "The fact that we know Damon would have been starving and without his daylight ring is telling, especially with the number of victims. Also, that Vicki Donovan's body is missing is telling. She probably survived and, Damon being Damon, decided he would need entertainment for the day while he waited for Stefan to return his prized piece of jewellery."

"Can we go get Vicki back?" Jeremy asked with trepidation. He knew that Lia and Enzo didn't care much for human life, but he didn't want Vicki to die because some vampire asshole was bored. He may not love her anymore, but that didn't mean all his feelings toward her immediately shut off.

"If that's what you want," Lia chirped as she jumped to her feet, smiling Jeremy's way. "Mimi, you never have to be afraid to ask for anything. If it's important to you, I'll always do my best."

"Do you think I could come with you?" he asked, startling her. "I just, I want to make sure she's ok and maybe talk to her about everything. She's probably scared and confused."

"Doubt it, mate," Enzo drawled, topping up his drink. "Damon would have compelled her; he can't stand whining."

"You can come, if you want," Lia shrugged. She wasn't worried about Damon getting the upper hand on her. "She might react better with a friendly face. She doesn't like me much."

Just as Lia was putting her shoes on, Caroline's phone started ringing.

Snatching the device up, Caroline raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"It's Bonnie."

*TVDM*

Bonnie Bennett could not stop dreaming.

She had started to jump at her own reflection, startling terribly when her Grams came around the corner without a sound. She was dreaming of a woman, telling her no to let them out, telling her they were dangerous and that he had to be stopped and it had to be destroyed.

She had been confused and a little creeped out at first, but, as she found herself standing in a clearing surrounded by trees in the centre of a pentagram, she screamed.

She'd made her way home, dazed and scared, wondering if the woman who spoke to her had dragged her out here. She kept getting flashes of a large amber crystal that were always followed by whispered words warning her to destroy it. She couldn't take it anymore. So, after a shower and a warm cup of cocoa, she'd sat down next to her Grams and told her everything.

"I recognise it," she had said as she flicked through her own Grimoire. "I've dreamt about it, myself, though never quite as vividly as you. It was Emily Bennett's talisman, made to release the vampires under the old Fell Church." Her Grams had turned her book towards her to show the rudimentary drawing of the crystal in question.

And then Bonnie had remembered where she'd seen it.

Hanging around Kaliope's neck.

Grams was worried, unable to decide what it was that they should do.

Bonnie decided to do the only thing she could think of.

She finished her drink, picked up her phone and she called Caroline.

"Hello?"

"Caroline, hey," Bonnie tried to smile, even if the blonde wasn't there to see it. "I'm sorry to call so early, I just had a question."

"It's totally fine, what's up?"

"Lia's necklace; you know, the ugly crystal?"

"Ugh, yes, don't even get me started on that fashion disaster," Bonnie could practically hear the eyeroll.

"Yeah, turns out it's actually a family heirloom of the Bennett's," Bonnie dragged out. "I was wondering if there was any way to get it back?"

Caroline fell silent and Bonnie held her breath as her Grams stared unblinkingly at her expression.

"I guess it shouldn't be a problem?" It almost sounded like a question. "She said you don't have to pay her back what she spent on it as long as you let her keep it until her birthday. She wants to wear it with whatever outfit she's got planned. That OK?"

"That sounds amazing, thank you Care. And thank Lia, too. I'll bring a copy of the page that it's drawn on as proof, if she wants," Bonnie offered, shrugging her shoulders helplessly at her Grams' stern expression.

"Oh, no, that's totally cool. Lia was actually just saying the other day that it was old enough to belong to one of the Founding Families," and Caroline was off on her social tangent.

Bonnie's shoulders relaxed, smiling and nodding along with her bubbly blonde friend until they finally parted. She immediately relayed the answer to her Grams who nodded grimly.

"It is the best we can hope for at this point, child," she rasped, standing to make herself another coffee. "Let us just hope that she does not wish to use it during this coming full moon."

Bonnie hoped so, too.

*TVDM*

Logan walked into the mayor's office, finding him kneeling on the floor and the sheriff standing next to him. He handed over the watch and observed as the mayor opened an antique chest, only to bulk at what was inside.

"This can't be right…"

Logan and Liz frowned as they leaned over for a better view. Inside lay a normal watch face. Richard scrambled for the pocket watch he'd been given, flipping it open and revealing a compass face.

"It was already constructed…" Richard stared unseeingly at the spinning dial, confusion running rampant in his mind.

"Does it matter?" Logan demanded, frowning at the mayor's blank face. "It works, right? We can still use it?"

Richard blinked as he focussed back on the news reporter. "Of course." Snapping it closed, he handing the device back, Logan nodding his thanks and leaving the room.

"What's wrong, Richard?" Liz asked, concerned by his sudden silence.

"I watched Grayson put the compass face in there myself," Richard stared down at the small chest he'd pulled from his safe. "No one else can get into this safe, not even Carol."

Liz swallowed the lump in her throat, looking into the safe with new eyes.

"It's not defective, that's the main thing," she nodded, trying to convince herself as much as the mayor. "We'll have to save the mystery for another time. We need to focus on saving lives now."

Richard nodded, trying to push the scared confusion away as he locked it back up tightly, but not before making sure the moonstone was still secure.

He stood, brushing the invisible lint from his suit as he walked the sheriff out of his office, hoping Logan had some luck, soon.

*TVDM*

"I am so over Tyler!"

Damon rolled his eyes as he listened to the human rant, her teenaged woes only aggravating him. He was about to cut her off when she mentioned Jeremy.

"Like, Elena's brother?" He asked, intrigued.

"Yeah! So, Elena used to date my brother and they were always together so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me and – hey, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're like, totally cool and so hot – and then that bitch showed up!"

Damon blinked, the only outward display of his surprise before raising an eyebrow at the blood bag.

"That bitch?"

"Karly or Leah or whatever her name is!" Vicki screamed, lying on the floor and kicking her arms and legs like a toddler. "Jeremy was totally into me and making me feel worth something and then she comes to town and starts being better than me! Tyler starts looking at her and Jeremy starts hanging with her! He dumped me! I mean, we weren't really dating but we could have been!"

"Kaliope," Damon breathed her name like a prayer, her vixen smirk and glowing eyes coming to mind easily. "So, you know Snow White?"

"I don't know her," Vicki spat. "I hate her. She's pretty and friendly and thinks she's so much better than everyone when she's really just a freak!"

"Now, that's not very nice."

Damon spun on his heel to see his little Snow wearing the most adorable white tie shoulder eyelet lace dress that fell to midthigh with white strappy heels. Her hands were clasped behind her and a mocking pout painted her fae-like features framed by her raven-wing hair.

"Jeremy!"

Vicki's cry had Damon tear his attention to his other house guest. Teen boy, taller than Lia by more than half a foot, boring face, human.

Too boring for Lia to actually enjoy the company of, surely.

Damon was slammed into the coffee table, sending both him and the pieces of the antique into the ground, just as he'd decided that Jeremy Gilbert was nothing more than another walking blood bag.

"Jeremy is friend, not food," Lia chided, wagging her finger in front of his face like a scolded puppy. "If you can't play nice, I'll have to take you to the vet and get you fixed." Lia leaned closer and cupped the side of her mouth to whisper, "spoiler alert; I'll be the attending vet."

Damon groaned, damn-near regretting all the life decisions that had led him to this point.

"Little Snow," Damon's voice was strained even to his own ears. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We've just come to pick Vicki up," the girl chirped with a grin. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," Damon attempted his own grin as he climbed to his feet, brushing off the splinters as he went. "Vicki, you've been a wonderful houseguest," Damon called over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the only threat in the room. "We should do this again sometime."

"Ooh," Lia's eyes gleamed. "If you're going to be bringing Vicki around again, don't forget to send an invite my way, too. She's Mimi's friend, after all."

The vampire turned to the human boy, mouthing the nickname and raising an eyebrow as Lia skipped over to Vicki. The boy rolled his eyes, ignoring the slight flush tinting his cheeks.

Lia grinned at Jeremy cheekily before a look of almost-disgust crossed her features as she looked Vicki up and down. "Vicki, Matt's worried. Jeremy wants to bring you home. Go collect your belongings," Lia demanded. It was one thing that Jeremy had noticed when it came to people Lia didn't care for. She had absolutely no patience with them.

"How about you go fuck yo-"

Lia had the back of Vicki's neck locked firmly in her grasp, pulling her head down to lock eyes.

"You will stop your childish nonsense. Get dressed and come along quietly. You will never touch drugs again, deciding that the attack at the cemetery was horrific enough to quit cold turkey because, in your drugged up state of mind, you didn't even realise your friends were being attacked. You will start taking responsibility for your actions and your younger brother."

Vicki blinked before she turned to the inhabitants in the room. "Damon, thank you for taking me in. I'm just going to get dressed before we leave. I'll be back down in a few," and with that, she headed at a steady pace toward the stairs.

Damon stared.

"So, you can compel," he stated.

"Something we share in common," Lia offered a polite smile, dragging Jeremy over to the closest chair.

"Anything else we happen to share?" he asked casually, as if he wasn't trying to dig for any weaknesses.

"A star sign, though don't tell the Bennett's," Lia grinned impishly. "I may have led them to believe I bought this amulet to wear on my birthday next week."

"You know, I happen to be an excellent artist," Damon fibbed as he grinned salaciously. "I've always wanted to re-enact that one scene from The Titanic…"

Jeremy snorted, choking slightly on his laugh.

"Let go, Jack," Lia rolled her eyes before she sighed. "I hate that you're funny. I feel like ripping all your toes off every time you make me want to laugh."

"Yeah, about that," Damon frowned, pouring himself a drink and wagging his finger in her direction. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"That would be telling," Lia hopped to her feet just as Vicki started walking down the stairs.

Lia locked her eyes with the newly-dressed Vicki again, her eyes flashing.

"You will forget any supernatural happenings you have seen and will see up until I drop you off at your home."

Lia then wrapped her arm around the woman before doing the same to Jeremy.

"Well, Damon, I wish I could say it's been fun, but," with a shrug, the three vanished.

"Is it speed or simply teleportation?" Damon grumbled as he refilled his glass, sighing heavily at the pieces of wood that scattered the living room. He smiled.

"Stefan's gonna be pissed."

*TVDM*

As soon as the pair returned to the Athánatos residence after dropping Vicki off to her grateful brother, Jeremy had trekked down to the game room to find Enzo while Lia decided it was finally time to delve into the grimoire. She flipped through the pages, reading the healing, sealing, cloaking and enchanting spells made Lia frown. It was odd, she decided, that witches decided they needed incantations. Maybe they just helped focus a witch's mind? Lia didn't know, but she didn't care.

Nodding firmly to herself, she got up and made her way out the back, walking around the pool house to the small patch of garden that had been left. She sat under the only tall tree, burying her hands in the soil and closing her eyes. Like the first time, it didn't take her long to connect to the planet's ley lines.

She searched thoroughly, starting close and slowly expanding the area she was covering until she came across an aggravating site. A decrepit house, her mind showed. A house that witches had converged on. A house that had trapped the magic of a hundred witches, refusing to let any return to the earth.

Greedy assholes.

Lia was standing in front of the site in a moment, her head cocked as she heard the uncomfortable murmurs.

"Attention miscreants. You're being evicted," Lia proclaimed brightly, her arms held wide as angry hissing soon overtook the uneasiness in the air. "You've overstayed your welcome on this planet." She dropped her arms, eyes glowing menacingly. "You're dead, get over it."

She buried her hands into the planet once more, and pulled.

Shocked exclaims and frightened cries surrounded her but she paid them no heed. Her hair was floating around her as if in water, her eyes glowed so strongly they bathed the old house in a green hue. She laughed breathlessly at the pure energy that warmed her insides; an energy she hadn't felt since she'd left her own planet. It was the energy that made the earth, the energy that was selfishly being kept from returning to the planet. The whinging of the dead did not bother her for they could not touch her. Their magic was now hers.

She stood tall, the winds whipping around her in a dance. She pointed her open palm toward the house and clenched it into a fist.

The empty house was obliterated in an instant.

Lia gasped as she felt one of her bonds to the earth strengthen, thickening until it became a two-way path. She could feel the magic she'd consumed return to its original source while she was filled with new energy. The earth was cleansing the magic that had lay dormant for decades, adding it back to its cycle.

Lia wasn't concerned about that, though. She'd succeeded in making a short-cut to jumpstart her magical journey. Her bond with the earth was totally open and in working order.

She could use magic.

"Holy shit, I'm so OP," Lia grinned wickedly, looking around at the newly-levelled deserted landscape that she stood in. It was perfect.

She had some practicing to do.

*TVDM*

While Lia was busy admiring herself and her newfound powers, Enzo was hanging up a phone call from Sheriff Forbes. Quickly flicking off a text to the usual trio, Enzo headed for his car.

He knew he might come across Damon tonight. He knew he might have to confront him. In all honestly, he was nervous. He was scared that, as soon as he saw the blue-eyed vampire, he'd either stake him or hug him. He wanted to do neither. He wanted to be strong. He didn't want a single chink in his armour to be visible when he looked down on the cowardly vampire and spat at him.

He prayed to his guardian angel he'd be able to do that.

It was the reason why he'd agreed to come out with the rest of the town council. He was growing more antsy as the days counted down and a part of him just wanted to get his showdown over with. He had decided to let the Fates deal his hand tonight. If he found Damon or not, he was leaving the decision to the Powers That Be.

He pulled up to see Logan with the compass in hand, a deputy and the sheriff standing with him.

"You sure you can handle this?" Liz asked, watching Logan handle the gun she'd just equipped him with.

"Of course, I can," he nearly scoffs. Liz wasn't impressed as she watched him tuck a loaded gun – with the safety off – into his back pocket.

Her deputy handed over the stake as she asked, "have you ever staked a vampire before?"

This time Logan did scoff. "Have you?"

"She has not, which is consequently the reason I'm here," Enzo drawled as he happened upon the group, a handful of what looked like belts in his hand. "Now, let's hunt down a bloodsucker, shall we?" He smirked as he revealed a gun holster stretched between his hands. He wrapped it around his waist, showing off the gun on one side and the two stakes tucked in to their own little holders on the other. He had to look the part, after all.

Logan's jaw clenched. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was jealous of the newest council member. He was determined to prove himself today.

Liz nodded, feeling better than ever now that Enzo was here. "Deputy, with Fell. Enzo, you're with me." She turned back to the news reporter. "Remember, as soon as that thing gives you a direction, call me and we'll meet up with you as soon as we can."

Logan nodded, relieved that the experienced vampire hunter wasn't coming with him, before he and his new partner took off through the brush.

"Well, partner," Enzo smirked. "Shall we?"

Liz offered a reluctantly amused smile before taking the first step in the opposite direction, Enzo immediately following.

*TVDM*

The sun had just set and Damon was itching to get his hands on Stefan. He blurred over to the Gilbert residence to see Stefan and Elena having what looked like a romantic dinner. He sure did hate to disturb.

"Knock, knock," Damon sang as he opened the door, the clatter of cutlery and a racing human heartbeat making him smile. "Can I come in? Oh wait, of course I can, I've been invited."

He strolled across the threshold with a smirk on his face, watching the terrified features of Elena duck behind Stefan's back.

"Oooh, somebody's scared of me," he cooed before looking at Stefan. "Let me guess, you finally spilled the beans?"

"I have your ring, Damon. Just leave Elena alone," Stefan demanded, the lines on his forehead were carved deep.

"Yes, a ring you shouldn't have touched in the first place, little brother," his head cocked to the side wearing an exaggerated expression of disappointment. "Stealing is a crime, a petty one, at that. Honestly, Stefan, how do you sleep at night? Does it just eat you up inside, knowing you've taken something that doesn't belong to you? Or," Damon paused thoughtfully. "I suppose you're used to not caring about other people's wants. I mean, Katherine was never yours and yet look what happened there."

"Damon, you know that's not what happened. Katherine wasn't ours to have. She compelled us," Stefan spoke slowly, as if talking to an assailant with a weapon. "We never loved her. She used us."

"No, Stefan, that's where you're wrong," Damon smirked condescendingly at the younger vampire. "We were never compelled to fall in love with her. You're lying to yourself if you believe that to be the case. You loved the woman, Stef, you just happened to fear the vampire."

Damon sped in front of the pair, causing Elena to gasp. He held out his hand slowly.

"My ring, Stefan, or I will eat her," blue eyes flickered toward Elena before they met Stefan's.

Stefan never broke eye contact as he handed the jewellery over, his usual brooding frown firmly in place.

Damon sighed happily as he slipped the ring on the finger it had been on for a century and a half.

"That's better," he smirked at the couple. "I was feeling awfully naked. Whelp, toodles." With a wiggle of his fingers, Damon was gone.

Elena slumped in relief, about to say something when she screamed.

Stefan was torn away from his girlfriend, a crudely-made stake shoved into his gut as he was pinned to the wall.

"Just a little warning, brother," Damon chuckled as he twisted the wood deeper, enjoying the moans and pants of a Stefan in pain. "Don't touch my stuff."

Damon whistled as he headed for the front door only to pause and look at the female Gilbert over his shoulder.

"A little advice for future reference; be careful who you invite in."

Then he was gone.

Stefan grunted as he pulled the stake out, gasping as he slowly began to heal.

"Oh, my God! Stefan," Elena's hands fluttered uselessly over the bloody clothing, her eyes wide as they watched the hole close and disappear as if never there.

"Damon is dangerous, Elena," Stefan grunted as he pushed off the wall, feeling weak and needing to feed. "I need to hunt to regain my strength. I'll never be as strong as Damon on my diet, but I cannot afford to be weaker than I already am with him in town. Lock all the doors, though I'm sure he won't be back tonight. He's made his point," he shook his head in dismay as he looked at his shirt.

Elena held her hand over her mouth, looking at the blood unseeingly. She had never expected this, any of this, when she'd confronted Stefan about the photo of him in '53. She had just been sick of the lies. Now, being with Stefan, how many more lies would she have to tell her family, friends? He'd already told her she couldn't tell anyone. How much further did this web spread?

"I can't be with you, Stefan," she blinked, surprised that the words had slipped through her lips. She looked up into heartbroken green, blinking back the tears that had sprung to the surface. "I don't want to live in a world where I have to constantly lie to my friends and family. I-I didn't," she swallowed heavily as her gaze dropped back to the blood coating his shirt and the hole that pieced the fabric. "I gave you your day and I know that you'd never hurt me, but I didn't truly realise what I was getting myself into. I can't just think of me, I mean, God Stefan, I invited that monster into my house," Elena's breathing picked up at the thought. "I did that! I can't bring anymore danger into my family's lives. I won't."

Surprisingly, Lia's words were swarming Elena's thoughts, words that had opened her eyes to the fact that she'd been putting what was left of her family on the backburner, putting herself and her feelings first. "You look after your family, Stefan. I'm going to look after mine."

Stefan just looked at her for the longest time before he finally remembered how to put one foot in front of the other. He blinked back his own tears, half-heartedly cursing the vampire's natural state of heightened emotions. He stared up at the stars for a minute before sighing, unable to ignore his hunger any longer.

In a blur, Stefan Salvatore left, unknowingly taking Damon along with him.

Damon was having the time of his life. He'd gotten to stake his brother and he got to hear him get dumped. It was a good night for Damon.

Until it wasn't.

Hearing a gunshot, Damon picked up his pace, finding Stefan with a gunshot wound in the chest and a pair of humans approaching him armed with stakes. Damon quickly snapped one neck and drained the other, digging out the bullet from the wound. He sighed heavily as he pulled out the small wooden pellet.

"Whelp, if the stakes didn't give it away, this sure as hell does," Damon groaned as he looked down on the pale Salvatore Junior. "They know."

It was only minutes later that found Enzo and Liz discovering the scene, having heard the gunshot and sprinting in the sound's direction immediately. Liz's breath caught in her throat at the sight of the two dead men and missing compass. Enzo frowned at the scene, coming to the conclusion that whoever they shot was saved by another, judging by the small pool of blood just in front of the bodies.

Not that he'd mention it.